Certain US Life Insurers Suspend Senior Applications

A number of US life insurance companies have decided to temporarily suspend applications from certain age groups, or have imposed similarly tough application requirements, in order to maintain their financial viability.

Reuters reported that the companies Prudential Financial and Protective Life Insurance have both temporarily stopped receiving applications from individuals aged 80 or older. Meanwhile, Lincoln National has postponed approving policies from the 80-and-above age group.

Mutual of Omaha Insurance and Penn Mutual Life Insurance are momentarily suspending applications for individuals aged 70 or older, and Securian Financial has stopped taking applications from those aged 71 and older until at least June 15, 2020.

In addition to the companies listed above, Reuters found that some insurers are also suspending applications for people in their 60s who previously were eligible for coverage despite having common health problems such as asthma or diabetes.

Several of the insurers also disclosed to Reuters that policies for people in their 70s account for about 2% to 3.5% of their total sales.

The insurers said that they made the change to suspend applications from older individuals for the sake of their long-term financial health. The companies also said that the suspensions allow them to keep paying claims for existing policyholders. A spokesperson for Mutual of Omaha told Reuters that the company acted on the advice of its reinsurers.